Maybe all I needed were orgasms and magical control to finally feel peace inside.
“You look different,” Remy noted as I set my bag by our table.
“I conjured a cup. Then I changed it to a tea mug, andnothing bad happened.”
In fact, the whole class made it through the lesson without any damages. Remy looked impressed, and I hoped her class was as successful. No doubt she would be regardless. Remy was the smartest person in the school. Hell, she changed her hairstyle this morning without messing it up.
“All right students, let’s settle our murmurings and get ready to stir!” Professor Hingely waddled in front of his cauldron and grabbed a bottle in his grubby hands. The potions professor was… quirky.
His brown hair was slicked back, and his blue robes were open, revealing a bright purple sweater, blue tie, and brown slacks. He found our realm fascinating. And by the looks of the growing collection on the bookshelves around the classroom, he went on a shopping spree over the weekend.
Professor Hingely liked to have fun, and I appreciated that. He collected odd knick-knacks from our realm like bobble heads and eraser tops.
“This weekend I was introduced to the most delicious concoction of this realm.” He paused, those bright blue eyes of his sparkling with anticipation.
“Cotton candy!” he blared into the silent room.
I heard a few snickers, but overall, the real adults in the room held space for the professor to enjoy the little things.
“Congratulations, sir,” Ethan commented with a soft smile. His partner nodded along, and I was glad that his magical mishap didn’t stop him from making friends.
“Because of my newfound love of cotton candy,” Professor Hingely continued, “we are going to brew a clarity potion that tastes and smells like cotton candy.”
He set five ingredient bottles on his table then grabbed his wand. With a flick of his wrist, all the ingredients were set on our tables.
“Dragon’s venom. I’m not drinking that.” Someone scoffed.
My face scrunched up reading the other bottle labels.
Horntree milk
Dragon’s venom
Opal shavings
Newtswing petals
Cotton candy
“Dragons are the oldest creatures in our realm. They are the wisest in all the lands.” Professor Hingley calmed our unease over ingredients that would surely get a product recalled in our realm.
“Plus!” He lifted a finger into the air. “You’d have to drink way more than the two drops we’re using to feel any negative effects like sour stomachs. If too much is ingested, the worst the venom does is put you to sleep for two days.”
Note to self: don’t drink copious amounts of dragon venom.
“All right, students! Everyone, what is rule number one to potion making?” Professor Hingley asked.
Most of us answered—some with loud and clear voices, some mumbling. “Inspect your cauldron.”
“Yes. Make sure you cleaned away all prior ingredients before getting started.” One thing all those magical school stories that I read to Piper ignored was who cleaned up after the students. Theprofessor mentioned hand cleaning was better versus using your wand. He said even the wands left a magical residue on the iron.
All I took from that was there wasn’t a realm we knew of thus far that would get us out of washing our cooking supplies.
The professor watched everyone observe their large mixing bowl-sized cauldron and continued the lesson. “Once you are confident in the cleanliness of your cauldron, pour your bottle of horntree milk in first. Yes, the whole bottle.”
Remy grabbed the ingredient and did as instructed. We settled on a taking-turns approach to potion making. She started, then I’d go, and continue the cycle.
So far it worked for us. But today something was off. Both of us were following the order, but our heads weren’t on the task at hand. Remy kept glancing at her phone sitting next to the cauldron, and I was trying not to think about Rylan and failing.
